Interview: Tsukihime talks Scripting, Hime Works, and Ramen

[C-C-C-Cashmere]

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As part of my interview series, I'm speaking to prominent developers/contributors in our RPG Maker Web community to gain insight on their inner workings. Today we speak to Tsukihime, scriptwriter extraordinaire and coding genius, responsible for the Hime Works website and a veritable plethora of scripts.

Hi TsukiHime! Thanks for accepting the interview. So, firstly, if you could tell us some general information about yourself to acquaint yourself with readers who may not know who you are.

I'm a scripter in the RM community. Been scripting for over a year now, mostly for RMVX Ace. I run Hime Works, which is just a blog where I put most of my code-related projects.

How did you learn to code?

Learned programming basics and theory in school, so picking up relatively Ruby was easy.

Yeah, the first time I became aware of you was for the Quest for Fun Contest. Your entry had an element of two-player puzzling that I found really unique.

Yes, Kitty Hunt, where you were supposed to go through all sorts of things to find a kitten.

Where do you get your inspiration to write certain scripts?

Some of them are from games that I've played. Others, such as the scripts that are purely focused on extending the engine including events or database, are things I thought of myself.
 

Transform Use Items​

Are there certain friends that have helped you along the way?

No, I do RPG Maker-related activities on my own.

Have you ever thought about being the script guy for a certain game, co-creating with a developer, like Fomar does?

No. I prefer a support role, filling in script needs as required. For example, things like designing and implementing a custom menu system I have little interest in, but it would probably be the "script guy's" job to do so.

And indeed your scripts come in handy for many people. That's what's good about them, they're very generally useful.

I prefer generic scripts for that reason.

If you got bored of scripting for RPG Maker, what would be next for you?

Who knows, maybe I will find something else that amuses me. Like Game Maker. Currently I've taken an interest in writing Google Chrome extensions.

Choice-Move Handlers​

Oh really? Have you started work on something Chrome-related already?

They are mostly small scripts that make my own browsing experience easier. For example, those ad.ly links that Victor likes to use for his scripts; rather than having to wait 5 seconds, I just have my extension skip the ad completely and go to the script

Granted that may defeat the purpose of the site. Would Victor still get money in that case?

I don't know, but I imagine he has other sources of revenue such as the commercial licenses.

What are some of your other hobbies?

Reverse engineering game resources such as writing tools to unpack data.
 
Wow that's pretty heavy. Your name is sharing with the name of the Japanese adult visual novel created by Type-Moon. Do you get into that kinda thing?

I was watching the Tsukihime anime when I picked a name. I think it's good, though apparently many don't like it. I also like Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls. The art style is unique compared to most anime. Plus you have samurai girls.

Custom Equip Types​

 
Last question: 5 favorites.

Favorite food?
Ramen. Not the instant variety. I don't make it, I just order it.
Favorite actor/actress?
Nope.
Favorite ice-cream flavour?
Mint chocolate
Favorite musical artist/style?
Suzuhana Yuko.
Favorite day of the week?
They are all pretty much the same to me. They are all fun

Thanks a lot for the interview Tsukihime, you're a great person to talk to.

Thanks.

[This is the sixth part of a multi-part series that will be released every few days, whenever I get the chance. The other parts are Archeia, Gorlami, Mister Big T, Shaz and seita. Hime Works provides many scripts for your RPG Maker needs, support Tsukihime's kind work today.]

 

[Dr.Yami]

Wow Princess like Mint Chocolate too? We can be friend, Princess (y)

 

[seita]

I'd like to ask, how much basic programming knowledge did you have prior to learning ruby?

 

[Tsukihime]

I'd like to ask, how much basic programming knowledge did you have prior to learning ruby?

I had been doing programming for a couple years prior to picking up RM (and consequently, ruby), so I would say I had all the basics covered.


It was just a matter of figuring out how to express my ideas in Ruby.